HALLANDALE (CBSMiami) — The registered sex offender suspected of abducting a North Carolina girl and taking her to Miami-Dade was arrested Wednesday evening.

The FBI’s Michael Leverock confirms the 38-year-old suspect, Timothy Newman, and the 12-year-old girl–whose name is being withheld because of her age–are at Hallandale Police Dept.

Leverock would not say whether the girl had been sexually assaulted.

Witnesses said she appeared upset. “She was down, she was crying, she was barefoot,” said Brenda Woodard.

The FBI credits “good police work” for finding the pair.

Alerted by an Amber Alert from Carteret County, CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald reported Coral Gables detectives on Wednesday afternoon rushed to a Mobil Mart at Southwest 42nd Avenue and South Dixie Highway where Newman apparently used a credit card at an ATM, which alerted police.

A “be on the lookout” was quickly issued for Newman, driving a red 1998 Chrysler. The FBI says a Miami-Dade officer spotted the car and followed it to a Denny’s parking lot in Hallandale Beach.

“I got here just in time to see the guy being handcuffed and patted down and asked questions,” said Danny Arce who snapped photos of the arrest. He added, “likewise with the little girl. They pulled her to safety checked out her physical condition to see if she’s ok.”

Newman is being questioned by police and will be taken to the Broward County Jail.

Ricardo Enriquez of the the FBI said officers found the pair just in time, “It’s my understanding he wanted to take her out of the country. We don’t know exactly where at this time it may have been somewhere in the Caribbean.”

It is unclear when the girl will be reunited with her family near Raleigh, N.C.